


Holding My Hopes and Dreams

by Bubbles759



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, Photographer Fili, Shy Ori, Summer Fandom Raffle Exchange, coffee shop AU, fili and kili are not related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-20 17:49:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4796624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubbles759/pseuds/Bubbles759
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when the best day turns out to be the worst day? Can a kind stranger or two turn it around?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holding My Hopes and Dreams

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FiliKiliThorinForever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiliKiliThorinForever/gifts).



> Written for the Summer Fandom Raffle Exchange. It's my first work so please be kind.
> 
> For FiliKiliThorinForever. Thanks so much for your kind words and encouragement.

Fili sat down on the curb with a sigh and looked at the window of what used to be his office. He didn’t care that his grey suit was getting dirty, or what sort of picture he made; a young professional in a tailored suit, sitting in the gutter with a box of belongings at his side.

Fili sighed again as he ran a hand through his short blonde hair. His day had started so well too. He was awake before his alarm; energy coursing through him so he set off for a run along the Thames, smiling and nodding at other runners he passed on the streets as the sun rose, bathing the city in a soft, warm glow.

After a gloriously hot shower, and amazing coffee, he had set off for the tube. Surprisingly it was on time, and hardly crowded, given the time of day. He had made it to his office early, and went over his proposal for his morning meeting. It had gone well; his ideas were well received, and praise heaped upon him. He was considering lunch when a deep voice quietly asked for a word as a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. It felt like an anvil and he knew his good day was ending.

“ _Budget cuts_ ,” his boss, a stern looking, dark haired man named Thorin told him. _“_ _Magazines aren’t making the money they used to.”_

_“You are amazing at what you do, but there just isn’t room.”_

_“I’m sorry._ ”

His colleagues looked on sadly as Fili packed up his desk, leaving nothing remaining. He turned in his ID badge at the security desk, Dwalin looking at him sadly. “I’m sorry Lad.”

“Me too,” Fili told him softly, before he walked out the door for the last time.

Which had led to him here, sitting forlornly on the curb of a busy inner city footpath. Suddenly an aromatic cup of coffee was thrust under his nose.

Fili blinked at the cup a few times before he followed the hand to a long arm, and up to a set of worried brown eyes. The owner of said eyes shook the coffee cup slightly. Finally Fili took it, breathing in the rich, warm smell.

“Thanks,” he finally said.

“Are you ok?” The voice had a wonderful lilt to it, and when Fili looked confused for a second, the voice continued. “It’s just, you’ve been sitting here for over an hour and I just...” a sigh. “Why don’t you come inside?”

Finally Fili took notice of his surroundings. The voice and chocolate brown eyes belonged to a young man. Dark curls framed his face; low, dark eyebrows shadowed those wonderful eyes, his jaw heavily stubbled. Fili was absolutely transfixed. He was gorgeous. His eyes travelled down the strangers torso, noting the black button up shirt partially buttoned over a red t-shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal strong forearms. He wore tight, dark jeans and black boots, but it was the green apron he wore around his waist that caught Fili’s attention. _The Shire Coffee House_ was embossed in a circle of golden letters across the apron, an acorn in the middle. Fili looked behind the kind stranger, noting said coffee shop behind him.

Finally, he nodded his head. “Sure.” He climbed to his feet, mindful of the coffee in his left hand. He held out his right. “I’m Fili. Thanks for the coffee.”

The stranger took his hand and shook it. “Kili. And you’re welcome. You just looked really sad.”

Fili handed him the coffee cup, and bent to pick up his box, before he took the cup back. “I’m ok. Just a bad day,” he said as he followed Kili into the coffee shop. He settled into a booth next to a window that Kili all but shoved him into with a “stay right here. I’ll just be a second,” before Kili practically sprinted into the back area.

Figuring he should use his time wisely, his rent wasn’t going to pay itself after all, Fili pulled out his laptop and a notebook and pen. He needed a job. Anything to get him back on his feet. He was in the middle of sending off another resume to yet another job when a fresh coffee, and a plate of freshly baked pastries, was set in front of him. He looked up to see Kili slide into the seat on the other side of the booth. He nudged the plate towards Fili.

“Eat something. They’re Bilbo’s specialty. He’s the owner.” Kili sipped his own coffee, taking a pastry for himself.

Cautiously Fili took a pastry, wincing at the heat, and grabbed a napkin to rest it on. He took a bite and moaned at the taste. Chocolate, hazelnut and some other subtle flavour burst over his tongue. He blushed when he caught Kili openly staring at him. “Sorry. These are really good.”

Kili ducked his head and cleared his throat. “Like I said, Bilbo’s speciality. He won’t tell me what’s in them though.” They drank their coffees, and ate the rest of the pasties in silence, the only sound the bustling of the coffee shop and the tapping of the keys of Fili’s laptop.

Kili broke the silence. “So, what do you do?” Fili looked up, startled at the question. It wasn’t the question he was expecting, and it must have shown on his face. “I don’t need to ask what happened, that’s obvious. So, I’ll ask what you do.”

Fili smiled. “I’m a photographer.” Kili smiled back at him and started asking questions. Questions Fili was happy to answer. Fili was actually enjoying himself; Kili was fun, smart, and easy to talk to. But, all things must come to an end, and Kili’s lunch break ended too.

“Stay?” he asked Fili when he stood up from the booth. “Unless you have somewhere to be of course.”

Fili shook his head. “Nope. No plans.”

“So you’ll stay?” Kili had an eager, hopeful look on his face that made Fili laugh.

“Sure.” Kili smiled and it was like the sun had come out from behind the clouds. All Fili wanted to do was keep it there. Smiling broadly, Kili bounced away and Fili smiled too.

Not even ten minutes had gone by before Fili was interrupted again. The small, red headed boy who was also working that day snuck up on Fili, scaring the life out of him when he set yet another coffee down on the table. “Jesus,” Fili breathed. “You scared the shit out of me.”

The boy dropped his head, fiddling nervously with the hem of his shirt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I was just bringing you another coffee.”

Fili smiled softly. “It’s ok. I was off in a world of my own anyway.” He pulled the boys hands away from his shirt. “But tell Kili I don’t need any more coffee. At this rate, I’ll be too jittery to actually do any work without ruining the photos.”

“Are you a photographer?” the boy asked shyly. Fili nodded his head. “I’m Ori,” the boy introduced himself. “What sort of photos do you take?”

Fili smiled at the boy again. “Anything really. Whatever happens to catch my interest. I was working on architectural details for my last project, but I’m not working on anything right now.”

“My, ah, my oldest brother, Dori, he runs an art gallery. He needs a new exhibition, would you be interested?” Ori sounded nervous, but he looked Fili straight in the eye.

“Me?” Fili asked surprised. “I don’t have anything even near exhibition ready. Why would you ask me?”

Ori dropped his eyes again, shyness overcoming him. “Dori mentioned that he needed a new exhibition. And you said you’re a photographer. And I’m sure you’ll come up with something. At the very least you can shoot Kili’s drama class.” At that Fili looked up.

“Kili’s an actor?”

Ori nodded. “And a good one too.”

“Tell you what Ori. I’ll ask Kili about photographing his class, and you tell Dori about me. If they both agree, then I’ll send Dori a portfolio and we can go from there. Agreed?”

Ori positively beamed. “Agreed.”

********

And that was how, a few months later, Fili found himself in a studio, surrounded by lights and equipment. He had been photographing Kili’s theatre class for a few weeks; shooting at rehearsals, backstage, on stage, and during performances. He had also photographed the actors individually. But tonight was for something special.

Tonight he was shooting Kili.

Kili looked nervous when he stepped through the doorway. He was in his signature black, skinny jeans, and a long sleeved tee, his feet bare. He pulled at the sleeves of his shirt in nervousness, and Fili quickly pulled his hands away.

“None of that tonight. You are amazing Kili, and these photographs will be amazing.”

“I don’t know Fili. I don’t photograph all that well. Many photographers I’ve gone to for headshots have told me the same. My eyes get lost in all my hair, and my eyebrows overshadow everything.” He bit his lip and Fili softly ran his thumb over it, making Kili release it.

“You just didn’t have the right photographer.” Fili directed Kili to the chair that was sat in front of a white screen. “Sit there, I’m just going to take a few quick shots, make sure I’ve got the lighting right. Don’t pose or anything. Just sit there and relax.”

Fili moved to his computer and picked up one of the cameras sitting beside it. He had plenty of ideas for this shoot, and he planned to make the most of it.

Bringing the camera to his eye he clicked the button taking photo after photo. After a quick glance at them, and a slight change to the lighting, he was ready.

He talked to Kili, about his day, about his classes, about what he was going to have for dinner later. Anything to get the other man to loosen up and relax. And once Kili did the photos were amazing. In one Kili lounged on the chair; head down and curls covering one eye as he looked at Fili through the camera.

In another, he straddled the chair head tipped back as he laughed, eyes crinkling, and mouth wide open. _He’s beautiful_ , Fili thought, and not for the first time. Finally, Fili got him to lounge on the floor of the studio. Some were incredibly posed shots, others taken when Kili moved unexpectedly into a position that just had to be captured.

Eventually, Kili’s stomach grumbled, loudly, at the lack of food and Fili put the camera down. He had just captured his favourite photo. Kili offered to run out and grab something to eat so Fili could have a look over the photos and see if anything was missing.

It wasn’t.

The camera loved Kili. And, despite his initial shyness, it was clear Kili loved the camera too. It was obvious in all the photos. Fili’s favourite ones were in black and white. Not to say that he didn’t love the coloured ones too, but the black and white made such a striking contrast. Kili’s dark hair and eyes juxtaposed against his skin was an exquisite sight.

Fili started when he heard the door opening again, and he quickly flicked to a coloured photo of Kili lounging on the floor. His arms were raised above his head as he lay on his back, his shirt having ridden up so you could see a few centimetres of tanned skin and dark hair. It was one of the spontaneous photos. Not posed at all.

“Is that really me?” Kili asked, coming up behind Fili and dropping the take out bag on the desk.

“Yep. I told you these would be amazing.” Fili swivelled his chair, and involuntarily took a breath when he realised how close Kili was to him. It would barely mean moving at all to just lean in and kiss him.

So he did.

A slight tilt of his head, and a small movement forward, and he was pressing a kiss to Kili’s soft, pliant mouth. Before he could pull away, saddened by the lack of reaction, Kili’s arms had curled around his neck, fingers carding through his hair. Fili returned the action, twisting in the chair to fully face Kili, then pulled him onto his lap. They both moaned as their hips pressed tightly together.

Finally they pulled apart, their lips kiss bitten and swollen. “I have wanted to do that for so long,” Kili confessed quietly, fingers still gently carding through Fili’s hair.

“Move in with me.” Fili startled himself with the request.

“What?”

“Move in with me.” Fili was more sure of himself this time. “You hate the place you’re living in; you hate the people you live with. Move in with me. I have a spare room that’s only been collecting junk, and I get lonely there by myself. And I like you. I really like you.” Fili blushed and dropped his head.

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I really like you too. Yes, I’ll move in with you.”

Fili had never packed up and locked up from a shoot so fast. Kili was laughing in delight as Fili pulled him from the studio, and into his car.

********

A month later saw Fili, clad in a dark suit, sipping Champagne as he watched people admire his work. The exhibition was a hit, and not just for him. Actors, casting agents and managers had been invited to the showing, and many of Kili’s theatre friends had various meetings lined up for the upcoming week. Kili included.

He let his eyes rove over to a black and white headshot of Kili, adorning the wall to his right. Kili was shot from above; his head turned to the left and slightly lowered, eyes downcast, his hair a wonderful contrast to his skin. He was breathtaking. It was the photo that had caused three casting agents and four managers to seek Fili out to find out the name of the young man in the photo. Fili had happily pointed them in Kili’s direction.

As he thought back on the last few months, arms snaked around his waist, and a stubbled chin rested on his shoulder.

“Good night, my love?” Kili asked, pressing a kiss to Fili’s cheek.

“Yes. A good night for both of us.” Fili turned in his boyfriend’s arms, his own going to circle around Kili’s neck. “Thank you. For saving me that day.”

Kili smiled. “You don’t need to thank me. I think I was meant to find you sitting on the curb like I did.”

Fili kissed him gently. “I think so too.” He took a deep breath as he saw a few people, eyes set on Kili, walking in their direction. There were a few journalists who wanted to speak to him too. “I love you.”

Kili smiled. “Love you too. Let’s meet the rest of the wolves, shall we? Then I’m taking you home to have my wicked way with you.”

“Promise?” Fili asked as he was led away by a journalist.

“Promise.” Kili smiled wickedly as he was taken to speak to yet another agent, this time for a modelling agency.

Fili looked around the room and smiled. Losing his job that day was the best thing to ever happen to him.


End file.
